Black Paradise Chapter 2.4

What he needed right now was not this useless argument. The good memories and voices he had painstakingly stored in his brain were about to be completely crushed. That could not happen. Ilyeong kicked Yuto’s arm away with his sunken eyes. A bleak wind blew over his exposed ankle.

“There’s nothing I can do for you. I’m struggling just to survive on my own.”

That was the truth. The moment he got off this cruise, he would be surrounded by enemies.

“So if you ever lay your hands on someone else’s things like this again, I won’t let you get away with it.”

Ilyeong staggered, kicking the wood fragments aside with his feet, and walked to his bed. He shoved the medicine box between the zippers and hugged his bag tightly. The feeling of helplessness, as if he were adrift in the open sea, was slightly soothed by it. One corner of his brain felt empty because the fake Seo Juhyeok had shriveled up.

Ilyeong quickly blew the voice he had listened to with all his heart earlier into that part. The headache and tinnitus soon subsided with a satisfied groan. It was a relief he wasn’t too late.

*

It was the first morning on the cruise. The look on Haoran’s face when they met in the dining hall was a sight to behold. He acted as if he was about to kick Yuto’s butt right away, but he seemed to have lost his words after seeing the hand, which was a clumsy mess of blood and bandages.

Haoran glared at Yuto with narrowed eyes, then sat down next to Ilyeong and whispered right into his ear.

“What on earth happened yesterday? What in the world happened to his hand? No, did you fight?”

“It’s nothing. And why are you so close? Don’t act friendly.”

“Ah, come on. You’re being so uptight. We’re in the same boat now. We should rely on each other to live.”

It was a statement so absurd that he didn’t even feel like answering. In the same boat. If Haoran had used that word as an idiomatic expression, he was gravely mistaken. The boat Ilyeong was on was a lifeboat on the verge of sinking under a tidal wave, no, it was just a buoy. Even one person could barely hang on, so who was he going to put on it?

Ilyeong furrowed his brows and glanced at the dining hall out of the corner of his eye. Seo Yoonseok and Seo Juhyeok’s group were not there. It seemed they thought that having a meal face to face with the riffraff from the shelter zones was enough for one time. It was something he had expected, so he didn’t think much of it. He just focused on eating with his spoon without a word.

The breakfast menu for today, perhaps considering the time of day, consisted of dishes that were easier to digest than yesterday’s lunch. Fortunately, his appetite returned, perhaps because it was a meal he was eating after starving for almost a whole day.

In the meantime, Haoran turned his gaze to the new people who had joined the table.

“Ladies, this is Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. It’s your first time meeting, right? Mr. Kwon Ilyeong couldn’t attend the banquet last night because he was sick.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sophie.”

“Hello, I’m Ji Taeun.”

A Westerner with brown hair and a gorgeous impression and an Asian with black hair and a graceful impression greeted Ilyeong in turn. They all seemed to be around Ilyeong’s age.

The woman who spoke last, Ji Taeun, added meaningfully after a short pause.

“We’re from Zone 23.”

Zone 23. The last shelter zone on Earth, miraculously discovered by Seo Yoonseok’s army several years ago.

Ilyeong passed them with his gaze without a word and looked at Haoran. Haoran grinned and said.

“Ah, we were at the same table for dinner yesterday. Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, why don’t you introduce yourself too?”

Ilyeong just stared at Haoran without saying anything. Haoran flinched at the bleak gaze and then smiled awkwardly at the two women.

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong is a bit shy. Haha.”

“I have never had a proper conversation with that person either.”

Jun, who had been looking for a chance to join the conversation, quickly broke the ice. He had an unfamiliar face, tinged with a shyness and blush that didn’t suit him.

“Well, let’s leave that person alone and talk amongst ourselves. What did you two do in the shelter zone?”

Ji Taeun quietly put down the fork she was holding and stared at Jun. Her eyes held a faint but clear anger and hostility.

“There’s nothing to call a job. It’s only been three years since Zone 23 became a shelter zone of Paradise. We’ve been observing the ruined zone for years. It will probably take a few more years for Paradise’s order and system to take root like in the other shelter zones.”

Sophie, sitting next to her, blinked her large eyes and added.

“So this was the first lottery for Zone 23. Taeun and I were very lucky.”

Ji Taeun scoffed loudly with a “Ha.”

“How is that lucky? I’m in a position where I’m being dragged away, leaving behind both my hometown and my family.”

“Oh my. Taeun is always like this. We are all surviving on the food and supplies provided by Paradise. Let’s admit what we have to admit. We don’t have to carry heavy stones anymore, and we don’t have to clean up trash. It’s liberation.”

She smiled slyly as she swirled her wine glass. The language of the woman, who was drunk early in the morning, was similar to Haoran’s. Ji Taeun glared at her with sharp eyes.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Did you forget why our zone became a mess? Whose fault was it all! Who would be grateful if you give them a disease and then give them the medicine?”

“If we hadn’t been discovered by Paradise, we would have starved to death long ago. I absolutely hate being hungry.”

“Oh, really? So does the food go down well next to the dead bodies of your family and friends?”

The face of Sophie, who had been wearing a relaxed smile like an accessory all along, hardened like a stone. Not even blinking once, the woman now looked more like a stone statue than a living, breathing creature.

The atmosphere at the table froze as if cold water had been poured on it. For a moment, only the sound of panting breaths lingered, then Sophie twisted the corners of her mouth and smiled bitterly.

“Yes. It goes down well. Unfortunately, my family and my lover all starved to death before that. Why should I mourn the death of a neighbor who didn’t share a single piece of bread with my dying family, just to save themselves?”

“……”

“You really have a knack for ruining the taste of alcohol.”

Sophie slammed her glass down on the table. The wine that splashed out of the glass because of it created a dark stain on the tablecloth. The woman stood up from her seat and strode out of the dining hall. Jun hurriedly followed after her.

“Well, there was a war…”

Haoran pretended to be calm and wiped the stain that had splattered on his face with a napkin.

Perhaps because the noisy commotion had not stopped throughout the mealtime, the people at the surrounding tables were all watching this side with bated breath. Perhaps everyone had heard the conversation here because the two people who had argued had not made any effort to lower their voices. It was a relief that Seo Yoonseok’s group and the soldiers were not in the dining hall.

At the center of that gaze, Ji Taeun paid no heed and stabbed at her salad with a fork. Although she was putting food into her mouth like a machine, it seemed that Ji Taeun was also not aware of what she was eating.

“One side unilaterally pushed in with guns and knives and attacked, can you call that a war? Like Sophie said, we lived very hungry and poor, but at least we didn’t die bleeding from being hit by a blade. We didn’t have old people pushing carts to build a research lab that we didn’t even need.”

Ji Taeun’s hand holding the fork trembled incessantly with anger. If what she was holding was a knife instead of cutlery, her eyes were those of someone who wanted to stab the other person’s intestines right away.

Ji Taeun looked at the stiffly frozen Haoran and Yuto, and finally at Ilyeong. The woman whispered very secretly in a low voice.

“I hate Paradise very much. But am I the only one in this dining hall?”

It was a moment when dozens of pairs of eyes looked like the red eyes of field mice.

The meal ended in an instant. The classical music flowing in the dining hall was a dissonance that did not suit the table at all. Haoran ran away to his room, saying he felt so nauseous he couldn’t stand it anymore, and Yuto also disappeared somewhere without a word.

“Have you ever thought that there was something strange about Zone 23?”

Ji Taeun’s voice was monotonous. Ilyeong, who had been scraping the bottom of his soup with a spoon, stopped moving. It was so out of the blue that if there weren’t only two people left at the table, he wouldn’t even have known the question was directed at him. Ji Taeun continued to speak, still not taking her eyes off the salad.

“It’s already been almost 100 years since the earth was devastated. So the land I came from was discovered much later than the other shelter zones and was designated as a shelter zone. And yet, we speak the same language and share a similar food culture. Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, have you never thought that these aspects of our zone are strange?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then do you have any desire to know about that secret?”

“I do not.”

Ji Taeun lifted the black eyes she had been staring at the salad with. They were dry eyes, like dried olives. Only the desire to pour out and share many things glistened uniquely within them. It is generally beneficial for one’s mental health to avoid humans with such eyes.

Ilyeong silently slung the duffel bag he had placed at his feet over his shoulder and stood up. Ji Taeun followed him closely.

“I’ve heard a lot of rumors about Mr. Kwon Ilyeong on the cruise. I think Mr. Kwon Ilyeong is similar to me or the people from our zone.”

“I don’t know what you heard, but I told you I’m not interested.”

“The heretic of the garbage village.”

Ilyeong, who was leaving the dining hall, stopped in his tracks. Ji Taeun seemed momentarily intimidated by Ilyeong’s murderous eyes, but then she moved closer and whispered.

“Your life has also been played by Paradise’s system. They said you were the only researcher in your family, right? After becoming a researcher, you probably wandered around, not belonging to either the residents of the garbage village or the researchers. You must have suffered from dirty rumors even after the Paradise lottery.”

It is because she is a third party who knows nothing that she can so easily dissect another person’s life with such sharp words. I don’t know if Ji Taeun intended it, but past memories burst out like a flood from every place she poked. His mind was in an uproar in an instant. The son of a bitch and the winter wind in his brain screamed and ran away to escape the overflowing memories.

Ilyeong roughly tapped his head, which was in an uproar with simultaneous headaches and tinnitus, with his palm.

“Why, what’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere? Should I call a doctor?”

“Mind your own business.”

Ilyeong hit his own temple so hard it was almost self-harm. Only then did his mind calm down a little. Ji Taeun had a shocked expression but did not back down. She persistently followed behind Ilyeong, who was quickening his pace again with a blank expression.

“Let’s talk. I’m trying to help Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. You hate Paradise too, don’t you?”

“No. Why would I.”

“Lies.”

“Did you forget your manners because you lived isolated from the outside world for a long time? Are all the people from Zone 23 as stubborn as you?”

“Why are you suddenly using informal language?”

“Because I don’t really want to respect you.”

Ji Taeun stubbornly blocked Ilyeong’s path and glared at him with sharp eyes. Ilyeong did not back down and returned the gaze. The one who turned her head first was Ji Taeun.

Ji Taeun powerlessly lowered her gaze. Below the railing, it was teeming with field mice who were enjoying a walk or window shopping after their meal. The only ones who could not properly blend into this scenery were Ji Taeun and Ilyeong. Eventually, the woman opened her mouth.

“…I’m sorry. In a few weeks, this cruise will also arrive at Paradise. Time is short and I was just anxious, so I spoke too harshly. I’ll ask you again politely. Please give me a moment of your time.”

Ji Taeun’s hand found the hem of Ilyeong’s clothes. The hand that barely grasped the edge was trembling pitifully. Her eyes, which had been like dry olives, also became moist. It wasn’t pitiful, it was just funny, so only a snort came out. Ilyeong irritably shook off her hand.

“Make it quick.”

Ji Taeun’s eyes sparkled as if she had received a blessing, and she looked around for a deserted place. The two of them turned their backs on the noisy main hall and walked to the most deserted passage. The narrow gap between the unlit shops, which must have been bustling with business at one time, was dim because even the lighting could not reach it properly.

“Zone 23 is…”

Ji Taeun, who had stopped, took a deep breath and chose her words.

“Zone 23 is a land where some of the people who lived in Zone 11 moved to about ten years ago.”

Ilyeong stared intently at Ji Taeun’s face, which was hard to see because of the shadow.

He had thought so from the beginning. Their isolation in a place called Zone 23 was probably a voluntary choice, and that its history was not long. Just as Ji Taeun had said, it was because they shared the same language and culture.

Ji Taeun maintained the silence as if to test Ilyeong’s reaction, which showed no movement, then gave up and continued.

“Until about ten years ago, Zone 11 was the center of the rebellion. Every single day was a war. In that process, a bounty was placed on many people, including my parents. We blindly crossed mountains and rivers, and walked for more than ten days straight. The place we arrived at is now Zone 23. Paradise relentlessly pursued us, and they found us after seven years.”

“…”

“I still can’t forget it. The day I woke up from my sleep, and the outside of my window was a complete hellfire…”

Even while shrouded in darkness, Ji Taeun’s eyes alone burned brightly like a flame.

“It’s a story that’s hard to believe. I know. Because Paradise rarely tells stories that are disadvantageous to themselves.”

Ilyeong pictured the field mice crossing mountains and rivers. He thought of the soldiers of Paradise fiercely chasing after them.

In that imagination, the field mouse soon became himself, and the soldier became Seo Juhyeok. This cruise is a ship escorting a prisoner. He is nothing more than a dish to be served at Seo Yoonseok’s evening banquet. Is there a way for him to escape? Like Ji Taeun’s parents, by finding the 24th zone…

“It’s not specified in any book, but… rebels are summarily executed, and the families of rebels no longer receive the protection of Paradise. Whether it’s the lottery or the training center, they can’t enjoy any of it. They are even kicked out of the shelter zones.”

“…Then what is Zone 23?”

“It’s an exceptional case. The scale of the escaped rebels was larger than expected. Seo Yoonseok wanted us to blend in well with Paradise like the other shelter zones. It’s ridiculous. He executed only a few as an example and mobilized the rest for the labor of redeveloping the shelter zone. That’s how Zone 23 was established.”

Ji Taeun seemed to hesitate for a moment, then added.

“I want Mr. Kwon Ilyeong to become a part of us.”

There may be hesitation, but it is an unwavering voice. Ilyeong suddenly felt a desperate need for the drug. Or for Seo Juhyeok’s voice, which had a similar power.

“Become a part of you, that’s a bizarre thing to say.”

“You know what I mean. Paradise seems to think the rebellion ended ten years ago, but it didn’t. We are still here. Mr. Kwon Ilyeong has a grudge against Paradise too. Please lend your strength to the rebels.”

The woman pleaded with a voice full of appeal. Her tone was similar to that of someone begging for a coin, but the hidden meaning was not at all like that.

A grudge against Paradise. That’s a funny thing to say. In reality, Paradise was more of an object of fear to Ilyeong than an object of hatred. However, in the sense that he had to run and hide from Paradise, he had something in common with the rebels. The blood circulating throughout his body became surprisingly cold.

“I’ve heard everything, but I still don’t feel much like doing so. You said earlier that the other shelter zones probably don’t know about the existence of the rebels, right? You’re wrong. I am absolutely fed up with rebels.”

“Why?”

“That’s none of Ms. Ji Taeun’s business.”

“I understand. I won’t ask anymore, so please think about it some more and let me know.”

Ji Taeun stepped back as if this was enough for now. Ilyeong turned away without a word.

The sound of small footsteps followed behind the cool darkness. The sound harmonized with the winter wind. To drive out the tinnitus, Ilyeong hit his head hard enough to make a sound.

Ji Taeun seemed surprised but did not ask anything more. It was the only moment he liked the woman.

It was when he had pushed through the swamp-like darkness, where his feet sank in, and entered the light again. Ilyeong stopped short in front of the railing overlooking the main hall. The scenery he saw below was quite unfamiliar.

The main hall, which had been swarming with the heads of field mice, was split into two groups. Predators were prowling between the swarms of field mice that were pressed against the wall.

They were all busy giggling with loose screws in their expressions. The faces of the other prey, who were terrified, were already out of their concern. Whether men or women, all the faces that looked like they had some money had a partner of regardless of gender by their side. The faces intoxicated with alcohol were busy rubbing their noses on their partners’ necks without any shame.

At the forefront of them, was Seo Juhyeok.

“You monster of a bastard.”

Ji Taeun chewed on a curse as she looked down at the same scene as Ilyeong. Seo Juhyeok did not push away the woman who was rubbing her breasts on his arm. And he lowered his head and whispered sweet nothings into the woman’s ear. His expression was not visible, but whatever pleasant words he said, the woman giggled and clung more tightly to his muscular, hard arm.

It was the same arm that had held Ilyeong and caressed him relentlessly last night.

“It’s Seo Juhyeok.”

Ji Taeun’s eyes spewed a bleak fire.

“The cunning bastard who devastated our zone three years ago…”

The woman drove a nail into Ilyeong’s mind with those eyes.

“We will hunt that person first.”

All the freeloaders in his head froze solid.

*

The nameless cheerful music flowing through the cruise melted his hardened brain. Ilyeong turned his creaking neck like a tin robot that hadn’t been oiled enough.

Seo Juhyeok stopped in front of an ivory-colored angel statue. The angel was catching the water falling from the fountain with its hands and letting it flow like holy water. The appearance of the angel statue was perfect, as if it had popped out of a famous painting, but in the main hall where everything was magnificent, it was just a featureless and shabby ornament.

He looked at the angel, which no one from the shelter zone had paid any attention to, for that long. It was not a reverence and obedience towards God’s messenger.

Seo Juhyeok stuck his hands in his pockets and spread his huge shoulders flat. And he cocked the cigarette on his lips askew. His gaze was desperate to give the angel the same thing. Just like he had taught Ilyeong about drugs yesterday…

Seo Juhyeok only started walking when his companions, who couldn’t stand it any longer, urged him on.

Ilyeong quietly asked the woman.

“How do you know Seo Juhyeok?”

At that question, Ji Taeun snorted as if she had heard a funny joke.

“It was Seo Juhyeok who found our zone. That person… ruined our zone in a very cunning and vicious way.”

Before he could ask what that cunning and vicious way was, Ji Taeun quickly shook her head.

“He was recognized for that achievement, and Director Seo Yoonseok chose him as the next director.”

“…Is it certain that Seo Juhyeok is the next director?”

“Everyone seems to think so. It’s a done deal with him appearing side by side with Seo Yoonseok in the propaganda video.”

Suddenly, the difference of being on the third floor where he and she were standing felt like a hundred floors, no, even farther. Last night, Seo Juhyeok had definitely been in the same space as Ilyeong. They had shared a light at the same height, and their bodies had touched. That’s why he thought he was the same kind of person as him.

Ji Taeun’s story shattered all of Ilyeong’s petty illusions. And it completely recreated Seo Juhyeok. If Paradise was the enemy’s camp, then Seo Juhyeok was the enemy commander who would shoot him to death with a gun.

Why had he been thinking of him as separate from Paradise? Because of his atmosphere that was not at all like a person from Paradise? Because of the sense of kinship that he also did drugs? Or was it because of the ecstatic voice that healed his mind?

“After killing Seo Juhyeok… what are you planning to do? What is the goal of the rebels?”

“The opening of Paradise. All the residents of the shelter zones have the right to live in a safe and clean place.”

“Right…”

The right to live like a human, Ji Taeun added in a strong tone.

“Give me an answer before we arrive at Paradise. I’ll be waiting.”

The woman left her seat irresponsibly with those last words. The typhoon sweeping through his mind became solely Ilyeong’s burden. Suddenly, he felt a surge of curses. He felt like he had been wandering in a dream all along and was now facing an unwanted reality.

Ilyeong rested his arms on the railing and stared down for a long time. Seo Juhyeok and his group quickly disappeared from sight. He would probably get dead drunk and do drugs like yesterday. And he would grab another partner and repeat the same act he had done with him.

It was an obvious prediction. And yet, he felt calm. From the beginning, what he had wanted from Seo Juhyeok was just one thing, a voice that would remain in his memory for a long time. He happened to come back with more than that, but that was merely a means to leave the voice more vividly.

It was time to leave the sinkhole and return to reality now. As Kwon Ilyeong, the drug offender being chased by Paradise.

Suddenly, his silhouette reflected on the railing caused trouble. The blurry curves created a jagged and bizarre shape.

“Ugh…!”

Ilyeong swallowed a scream and staggered back. What was reflected there was not a human. It was unmistakably a field mouse. Nausea welled up. Ilyeong covered his mouth, turned around, and ran to find the bathroom.

“What are you thinking about all by yourself again?”

Han Taeju approached with a swaggering gait and asked. Seo Juhyeok only turned his head to confirm his face. “Tsk, tsk,” Han Taeju clicked his tongue and added.

“Everyone is whispering that something is wrong with you. For some reason, the rumors have spread and everyone is asking me about you. Even my father.”

“What did they say?”

“They were asking why you’ve been so quiet lately. There were even some who asked if there was a problem with your sexual function, so I made sure to tell them clearly. That there’s no problem with Seo Juhyeok’s thing, and that he’s still busy hosting orgies. Well, it is a bit strange, even to me, that you only host them and don’t participate.”

“Good. The more dirty rumors there are about me, the better.”

“What a freaking weird bastard.”

Seo Juhyeok rested his chin on his hand, which was on the armrest, and stared straight ahead. The top floor of the cruise was a lounge where only the permitted could enter. That’s the refined word for it, but right now it was just a place for an orgy.

Moans ran rampant in the dimly lit interior with the lights turned down as much as possible, and white medicine boxes and aluminum packaging were scattered on the floor. Naked bodies swayed and clung to each other. The woman who had been clinging to Seo Juhyeok’s arm and rubbing her breasts against it just a moment ago had quickly moved on to another partner when he showed no reaction.

Han Taeju, who had emerged from that picture, approached, dragging his unzipped pants, and handed him the liquor bottle he was holding.

“I was talking about it earlier. What’s so special about that fountain? Even my father said it would be better to tear that whole area down.”

The Paradise was a ship owned by Han Taeju’s father, Chairman Han Yeongun. Han Taeju’s family had been running a shipbuilding company for generations. However, after the Jupiter virus spread, they quickly transformed into a military supplies manufacturer, and now they were one of the major pillars supporting Paradise in both name and reality.

Probably right about now, Seo Yoonseok and Chairman Han were having a refined conversation with their heads together somewhere in a back room of this cruise.

The two old men that Seo Juhyeok knew well were the type who were better suited to firing guns on a battlefield than to playing politics or doing business. It was so funny it could kill him to think of the two of them hiding the thorns on their tongues and sizing each other up.

“The only thing worth seeing on this cruise is that fountain. Especially that statue.”

“You’re kidding, right? Don’t tell me you mean that angel statue? According to my father, it’s the white elephant of this cruise. He looks young and handsome, but that angel is almost 100 years old. It’s time to replace him with a young and fresh statue.”

Han Taeju sat down on the single-person sofa next to Seo Juhyeok with a reluctant expression. Seo Juhyeok had been occupying the three-person sofa by himself and had long since melted into it as if he were one with it. He took a drag from his cigarette and stared into the air with drowsy eyes.

“Then give it to me. It would be perfect to put in my house.”

“It’s obviously not for religious reasons. What are you going to do with that ridiculously large statue?”

“Hmm,” Seo Juhyeok replied with a silent laugh. Han Taeju looked Seo Juhyeok up and down with an incredulous look.

“You seemed to have gotten tired of people lately, don’t tell me you’ve awakened to some strange perversion… That’s blasphemy.”

Seo Juhyeok did not answer this time either. He alternately recalled the face of the angel statue and the face he had seen last night. If you put blue eyes into the angel statue’s face, which would feel cool and hard to the touch, it would look like an exact twin of him.

The effects of the alcohol and drugs had completely worn off this morning. When he came to his senses, he was on his bed. He remembered inhaling the Black he had saved for the very end after finishing his conversation with Han Taeju and returning to his cabin. It was a little bewildering that his self-control had been pushed to its limit to that extent.

Actually, while he was stirring that narrow and moist throat with his tongue, he had been thinking about Black the whole time. He didn’t know why. That’s why he dug into it more persistently with the tip of his tongue, and the more he did, the more his reason became blurry and loose. It was to the point where he wanted to shove his fingers or whatever in there and peel off the mucous membrane.

It seemed that since his drug and sexual desires were not being satisfied, they had collided and exploded in a big way last night. Seo Juhyeok massaged the back of his stiff neck and defined the situation as such.

“It was just a single tongue kiss. Can it really remain this strongly in my memory?”

“What?”

“Should I call this fate…”

“Why do you wrap up the words ‘I want to fuck’ so romantically?”

Without denying it, Seo Juhyeok mulled over the two words. Romance and fucking. They were being discussed on the same line, but the two were worlds apart. Just like the drug right in front of him.

He slumped forward and picked up a medicine box rolling on the floor. Eight oval-shaped white pills were neatly wrapped in aluminum packaging in a row.

At a glance, it looked so similar to Black that it was hard to distinguish. He unwrapped one of them and tossed it into his mouth without hesitation.

“Mmm…”

Seo Juhyeok closed his eyes and rolled the pill on his tongue. When he mercilessly crushed it with his teeth, it made a crunching sound like bones being ground. It was a somewhat rough shape and texture. The effect was also bland, and the method of taking it was just inconvenient, but the naked bodies in front of him were completely lost in this drug.

“Can’t you at least pretend to be properly intoxicated?”

Watching Seo Juhyeok chew and swallow his second pill, Han Taeju clicked his tongue, “Tsk, tsk.” Han Taeju himself had a history of complaining that this drug, White, was so mild that it didn’t even register on his liver.

“You’re chewing it like a vitamin, so it’s embarrassing for me. The kids sprawling over there are going to cry.”

“Vitamins are at least good for your health. This is just meh.”

Seo Juhyeok tossed the medicine box into Han Taeju’s lap and leaned back against the plush backrest again. The hazy smoke once again made someone’s face appear blurry. I’m really completely enchanted. Seo Juhyeok pressed down the lit end of his cigarette and smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“I wish you would look into someone for me.”

“Who? I wish you would talk about work after we arrive at Paradise.”

“It’s a problem that can be solved here.”

Seo Juhyeok tapped the armrest of the chair with the tip of his index finger.

“I need the list and information of the lottery winners from the shelter zones.”

Han Taeju’s expression darkened slightly. He leaned towards Seo Juhyeok and asked in a low voice. Even if they were surrounded by people intoxicated with drugs and sex, secretive conversations always had to be exchanged carefully.

“What kind of information do you need exactly?”

“For now, just their identities, simple family register details.”

“That’s not difficult, but… you always washed your hands of anything related to the lottery, saying it was always fishy. Why that again?”

“To see if they’re trustworthy. I’m good at stabbing people in the back, but I hate getting stabbed.”

That was Seo Juhyeok’s principle that no one could escape. He was the type who had to get to the bottom of his opponent in both public and private relationships to be satisfied.

However, this was only the second time that a person from a shelter zone had become the target. The first time was right before the subjugation of Zone 23, and the second time was right now. Other than that, he had no contact with the people from the shelter zones, so he wasn’t even interested.

The handling of matters related to the lottery had also been under the jurisdiction of his older brother, Seo Chaejun, until last time. Seo Yoonseok and Seo Chaejun had thoroughly excluded Seo Juhyeok from their league so far.

Things that were messy and unpleasant to clean up, such as escaping Paradise to subjugate rebels or controlling shelter zones, were his share.

But just a month ago, everything changed drastically when Seo Juhyeok was mentioned as a candidate for the next director. Seo Yoonseok always had Seo Juhyeok by his side, and Seo Chaejun also began to willingly share his domain.

What is the ultimate goal of this sly father and son duo…

“Han Taeju. Have you ever met the lottery winners from the shelter zones in Paradise?”

“What reason would we have to meet them? They’re probably living well somewhere, right? But why do you ask?”

“Never mind. Just look into what I said earlier.”

Seo Juhyeok put a second cigarette in his mouth and chewed on the filter. Have I been too indifferent to my surroundings all this time? When he suspected one thing, everything else started to look strange.

In the meantime, Han Taeju, who had tilted the liquor bottle, wiped the alcohol that flowed down his mouth with the back of his hand and said.

“By the way, who on earth got caught in Seo Juhyeok’s radar? I really don’t know what you’re thinking these days. I guess I have to do what you say. Alright.”

While grumbling, Han Taeju chewed on Seo Juhyeok’s order and repeatedly recited words like “list” and “information.” The words he uttered blended with the moans and the lounge music. Seo Juhyeok closed his eyes. In his unconscious mind, a face that resembled the effects of the drug floated around.

Just then, Seo Juhyeok’s aide, who had opened the lounge door from afar and entered with short steps, whispered something in his ear. He delivered a story so surprising that it sobered him up completely.

“Father is looking for me.”

It was the first time this had happened since he boarded this cruise.

*

He didn’t know how many times he had thrown up as soon as he put something in his mouth. He vomited so severely that he wondered if his internal organs would come out with it.

Ilyeong practically buried his head in the sink and washed his face. The cold sensation made his head tingle. Yes, it’s better not to think about anything.

When he lifted his head, he saw his pale face reflected in the mirror. When a drop of water hung on his eyelashes, the pale face in front of his eyes was also distorted and contorted. Ilyeong glared at the shape that looked like a monster until his blurry vision cleared.

I am a person. I am a person…

Ilyeong unconsciously muttered that one phrase frighteningly and returned straight to his room. His mental and physical state was not sound enough to enjoy entertainment thoughtlessly like the lottery winners from other shelter zones. The tinnitus and headache were precariously crossing the limit. He confirms that he is breaking down in some way like this.

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong.”

Ilyeong stopped abruptly as soon as he got off the elevator. Not in his room, but right in front of the elevator, there was a visitor waiting for him.

It was Chan. He seemed to be aware that he was being unusually conspicuous, as he wrinkled his nose awkwardly and approached Ilyeong.

“You don’t look well.”

“You probably didn’t come all the way here to worry about my complexion. Is there a problem?”

“Mmm.”

Chan hummed.

“About, about yesterday’s conversation… I’ve just come from telling my superior about Mr. Kwon Ilyeong and the drug. Ah, there’s no problem with the deal. He said he would gladly accept.”

“And?”

“However, he said he needed to check Mr. Kwon Ilyeeong and the drug in person…”

“Let’s go.”